Chicken Fajita Dinner

Fajita night is always a family favorite in our house. Basically DIY tacos, serving fajita style makes dinner more of an experience and interaction. It also allows for everyone to put what they want (and skip what they don’t). Chicken Fajita Dinner is such a classic meal that ticks all the boxes – tender protein, well cooked vegetables, a nice bean side dish and tortillas.

I know when you look at the ingredients list, you may get a little overwhelmed by the length of it. While it seems like a lot – it is for an entire fajita experience. If you don’t have time to make the fresh pico de gallo – no big deal, just grab some premade from the cooler at the grocery. If you don’t care for black beans, you could do pinto beans, refried beans or rice instead. Also if you prefer corn tortillas over flour tortillas, then make that switch. I do suggest that you warm up your tortillas if you have the time.

This particular recipe is for chicken but you can sub out just about any protein. If you want steak or shrimp, you will want to marinate the same and cook the steak about half as long. If you want to use pork, I would suggest pork tenderloin and the cook time would remain the same. If you go a for a fish or even tofu protein, you will need to adjust the cook time accordingly. Basically everything else about the recipe would stay the same.

In the instructions for this recipe you will see my suggestions to use a flat top griddle (this can be a countertop griddle or a big Blackstone style flat top) as well as a fine mesh strainer. The flat top griddle makes cooking everything evenly much easier as you can spread it out more evenly. The fine mesh strainer is really all about presentation. If you just spoon the pico on to the plate, it will weep into the cheese and sour cream, and just look unpleasant. By straining off the excess liquid, you get a better presentation, and a less “drippy” fajita in the end.

Now Let’s Get Cookin’!

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Chicken Fajita Dinner

Classic chicken fajitas with fresh pico, grilled veggies, smashed black beans and all the other trimmings.

Course Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine American, Mexican, Tex-Mex

Keyword chicken breast, chicken fajitas, flour tortillas, fresh pico de gallo, green bell peppers, marinated chicken, pico de gallo, red bell peppers, white onion

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Marinating Time 4 hours hours

Servings 6

Equipment

• 1 Flat-top Griddle
• 1 Fine Mesh Strainer

Ingredients

• 15 Fajita Sized Flour Tortillas
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 2 Limes cut in wedges
• 1 Avocado sliced
• 1 cuo Cheddar Cheese shredded
• 2 cans Black Beans
• 1 tbsp Taco Seasoning see recipe below
• 1 Red Bell Pepper cut in strips
• 1 Green Bell Pepper cut in strips
• ½ White Onion cut in strips
• 12 stalks Green Onion tops and roots trimmed
• 1 tbsp Oil
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Pepper

For the Chicken

• 2 lb Chicken Breast cut into ½ inch strips
• ¼ cup Oil
• ¼ cup Lime Juice
• 3 tbsp Taco Seasoning see recipe below

For the Pico de Gallo

• 2 Roman Tomatoes small diced
• ½ White Onion small diced
• 1 Jalapeno seeded, small diced
• ½ cup Chopped Cilantro
• 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
• 1 tsp Salt
• ¼ cup Lime Juice

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

• In a gallon sized zippered bag, add chicken ingredients. Smoosh around to evenly coat. Place in refrigerator to marinate, at least 4 hours (up to overnight).
• In a small bowl, combine Pico de Gallo ingredients. Cover and refrigerate, at least 30 minutes (up to overnight).
• In a sauce pan over medium heat, add black beans and taco seasoning. Once they start to heat through, use the back of your spoon to slightly smash the beans occasionally, while the continue to cook down. If they start to bubble, reduce heat slightly.
• Keep white onions and green onions separate from bell peppers on your cutting board. Drizzle both with oil, salt and pepper.
• Preheat griddle (or large saute pan) to high. First add white onions and saute for about 3 minutes, Add marinated chicken (try to keep in one layer). Cook and saute for 8-10 minutes, make sure to flip and turn the chicken pieces. Add bell peppers and incorporate into the onion and chicken mixture. Around the outside of the cooking surface add the green onions (turn once).Continue to cook another 5 minutes (or until chicken is cooked through).
• For each diner, make a small plate with a portion of cheese, sour cream, lime juice, and avocado. Use the small fine mesh strainer to drain off the pico de gallo (if you skip this step you will have a soupy mess).
• Serve "toppings" plate along with a portion of the chicken fajitas, serving of smashed black beans and 2-4 tortillas.

Notes